Faerie Cloud Racer – A Beginners Guide

There has always been a great deal of competitive spirit between the faeries of Neopia, so when a game was created for them to race against each other, it became immediately popular with everyone! With the release of Faerie Cloud Racers, Neopians were queuing up to see the lengthy battles between the magical quest bringers.

Being such an admired sport, the game was recently updated. Extreme Faerie Cloud Racers allows you to play as one of the faeries in a fast paced game of quick reflexes and rapid thinking. If you are having difficulty getting used to the new game, then this guide is for you!

The Basics

As you should already know (and if you don’t, then you will after reading this!), in this game you play as a faerie, eager to prove she is the best on her Cloud Racer!

The aim of the game is to eliminate the other players on the board. Every game you will be competing against the three other faeries. The only way you can win is to outlast the other players by avoiding running into a trail or the wall. You can wipe out the opponents' racers by forcing them into a trail, ensuring your victory!

Controls

First of all, you should familiarize yourself with the controls. Your racer will be constantly moving forward, leaving a ‘trail’ behind you. The only keys you will need are the left and right directional buttons. Pressing the right key will turn your racer 90° right (and vice versa). If you are familiar with playing Meerca Chase in classic mode, this game should be relatively easy to get used to.

Choosing Your Faerie

As you start a new game, you will begin in your chosen faerie's position. There are four faeries you can choose to control:

• Illusen the Earth Faerie

• The Tooth Faerie

• The Space Faerie

• Taelia the Snow Faerie

If you play as Illusen, you will start at the bottom left of the screen, and your trail will be green.

If you begin as the Tooth Faerie, you will start at the bottom right, and your trail will be orange.

If you choose the Space Faerie, your racer will begin in the top right of the screen, and you will have a purple trail.

If you start as Taelia, you’ll begin at the top left with a light orange trail.

You may be partial to a certain faerie, or you may loathe them all and wonder why Jhudora isn’t there (mwahaha), but you need to make your choice before you start the game. I would suggest choosing one faerie and sticking with them, so that you are used to your starting position and trail colour. Switching faeries between games can often lead to mistaking your racer for another, and some embarrassing lives may be lost (“Why aren’t you turning the way I am telling you to!!!! ... Oh...”).

Game Play

When you have chosen your faerie, you will be presented with the game screen. STOP! Before you press the spacebar and begin your game, take a minute to familiarize yourself with the layout. The top half of the screen is where you can see your chosen racer. This game is a lot different to the previous Faerie Cloud Racers game because the main view is not from above. You will be looking in the direction of your racer; when you turn, your view turns. This may make it a lot more complicated to get used to!

In the bottom left, you can see a small empty screen. This is where the map will be shown. Here you can see the whole game enclosed by the four walls. From this map screen, you will also be able to see where all the racers are, including your own (which will have a circle around it) and their individual trails. Something else you will see, are little hollow squares of various colors. These are the power ups. I will get to these later.

Next to the map, in the middle of the screen is your score box. This is (obviously) where your score will be displayed. Above that on the right is a number; this is the amount of lives you have left. You start the game with three lives. You loose a life every time you hit a wall or a trail. Your chosen faerie will be in the larger circle in the bottom right of the screen, with your opponents in the smaller circles above it. Once a faerie is eliminated, her image will be blacked out.

Another difference from the original game is that your trail does fade away after time; it can only be a certain length (unless you get the Meerca Trail power up).

Power ups and Bonuses

There are three power ups obtainable in the game. These are Meerca Trail, Tonu Charge and Sluggish Slorg. Below is a brief explanation of what each of them does, and how to use them.

Meerca Trail makes your trail longer; this means that you have more length to try and trap an opponent, but you also have to be careful not to corner yourself in the process. This power up can be seen on the map as a blue square.

Tonu Charge makes it possible to smash through other trails, as well as your own. This power up is very useful in the later stages when you are going a lot faster. It can also help you out of tight spots. These can be seen on the map as white squares.

Sluggish Slorg slows you down. This give you more time to think; it also gives you a good opportunity to try out some daredevil bonuses (read ahead). This power up shows up on the map as a green square.

Every power up only lasts a few seconds, so make the most of your time! Once you acquire a power up, a bar will come up on the screen. This shows you how long you have left. You don’t need to activate them; as soon as you collect them they are triggered. Power ups, if not collected, will disappear from the map after a little while. They are constantly replenished, though, so do not fret!

You get points for every completed level! For more point bonuses, there are extra ‘stunts’ you can perform to rack up your score.

Daredevil Bonus – Turn close to a wall. This will give you 3 points.

Daredevil Extreme Bonus – Turn very close to a wall for 6 points.

Double Daredevil Bonus – Turn close to a wall with a wall on the inside of a turn for 12 points.

Double Daredevil Extreme Bonus - Turn very close to a wall with a wall on the inside of a turn for 21 points.

Master Daredevil Bonus - Turn very close to a wall with a wall very close on the inside of a turn for 42 points.

The term ‘wall’ also includes any trails on the field. Knowing this, you can use obstacles to your advantage to gain lots of points quickly. Knowing when to turn is the tricky part, so the only thing to do is to practice! Get used to the pace of the game and know how quickly you can press the buttons. It is easier to calculate distance by watching the map.

Tips

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to practice. Once you are a pro at the controls, you can begin to forge out your own strategy in trapping the faeries. Remember, as the levels progress, the racers get faster and faster, so it is a good idea to get as many points as you can in the starting levels, using as many bonuses as possible.

I find it very difficult to find my bearings by just looking at the main screen, so I watch my map instead. This way you can see where everything is, and you know which direction you are going. I only use the main screen if I am trying to get a power up.

Try not to get distracted by the other faeries. Keep your main focus on your own racer and the trails around you. If you are trying to trap an opposing player make sure you are not jeopardizing your own safety! In later levels, the faeries will usually manage to crash themselves easy enough, so just concentrate in surviving.

I really hope this guide has been useful and will help many to achieve high scores. Believe in yourself and you can become an expert Faerie Racer!